Vanguard 2 (which I've never played, looking forward to)
Alpha Mission
TNK III
All shooters
A few more SNK Minis this week...
(13 posts) (3 voices)-
Ooh . . . crap, that's $9 asking to leave my wallet, isn't it?
This'll mean my PSP will have Alpha Mission, Alpha Mission II, and the "as guest star" Alpha Mission III (NEOGEO HEROES ~Ultimate Shooting~, one of whose characters is the SYD III fighter craft, successor to the SYDs in the Alpha Mission titles, and its pilot, UNI-008--its presence in the game is sort of like Castle of Shikigami III including Kirishima Reika from the LaserDisc arcade game Time Gal), as well as both Vanguards. I'll have to look into that third game.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I haven't bought any of these yet (kind of undecided on some other stuff to add to the cart as well), but I'll be skipping T.N.K. III, having discovered that it plays more or less like the tank portions of Ikari Warriors, which is apparently a descendant. I didn't take all that well to any part of Ikari or Front Line.
I remember hearing a while back about Vanguard II not playing like Vanguard, and the screenshots certainly backed that up. I still plan to get it and Alpha Mission, though (and also the remaining 2 scrolling shooters from SNK Arcade Classics Vol. 0, Bermuda Triangle and Prehistoric Isle in 1930, if they get released as Minis).
Posted 8 months ago # -
Maybe you could suggest it on their Facebook page. Unfortunately, that seems like the only way to contact SNK Playmore USA; they don't even seem to have an e-mail address on their site.
I'd be vaguely interested in seeing Wonderswan games make a return on a download service. Only vaguely, though.
Posted 8 months ago # -
sniper712
Memberi just remembered some SNK (maybe, but not 100% accurate) NeoGeo pocket games: Last Blade, KoF, Metal Slug... crap that's all I remember. wait, some SNK card fighting game. hmm... if they give us those i'll buy it, provided the fact that it's around $6 at most. I'm still a bit surprised since a game like Magician Lord is $6.99 or so and it's a really simple game (very hard too) and Metal Slug (around $5.99 or so). Then again, at least getting the games is better than none, even if the price seems a bit unreasonable.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Initial impressions:
Vanguard II - aiming the bombsight is a real pain, which sucks because that's the only way to progress in the game. I'd liken the game more to Bosconian than Time Pilot (granted, Bosconian was the direct inspiration for Time Pilot) given the stationary targets. But, I have a lot more fun with Bosconian than this.
Alpha Mission - can't figure out how the power-ups and armor system work. Maybe instructions used to be written on the arcade cabinet, because the game on its own does not tell you AT ALL how it works, with not even any introductory text during the attract mode.
So far, a lot less satisfied with these than with my first 4 SNK Minis purchases. People were not kidding when they said Vanguard II was clearly inferior to its predecessor.
Posted 8 months ago # -
JeremyR
MemberHa! I was actually debating on mentioning Bosconian in my review of Vanguard II, because the resemblance is pretty obvious, but I wasn't sure if anyone had heard of it.
But as you say, Bosconian is a lot more fun.
I think the problem with it is because the ship only has 8 different directions, the bombsight just jumps way too much when you maneuver.
Posted 8 months ago # -
I never played Bosconian in an arcade; the first I ever heard of it was in 2003, when it was one of the games on the first Namco plug-n-play game system from Jakks Pacific. That version of the game wasn't arcade-accurate (in no small part because of the 4-way stick), but I was pretty good at that variant of the game. I once played on one credit for about 45 minutes, managing to beat the 25th level. Bosconian reappeared on some of Jakks' later Namco plug-n-play systems in a more arcade-accurate conversion (different hardware underlying those later systems, so they redid the port, and it came out more faithful to the original--e.g., it finally had the alert voice), and one of those systems even had an 8-way stick.
I think the problem with it is because the ship only has 8 different directions, the bombsight just jumps way too much when you maneuver.
Exactly. However, Vanguard II has grown on me slightly (though it's still a far cry from both Vanguard and Bosconian). Here's what happened: I played the game last night on my PSP and had enormous problems hitting targets. The analog nub worked somewhat better for me. I played the game on my PS3 today, using the analog stick and having altered the controls (helps not to have both weapons on the face buttons), and had a bit more success. It was during this session that I figured out how the pod destruction worked, how you could destroy multiple ones in a single shot by hitting power junctions. Using save states, I got as far as the fourth stage before stopping. Then, I played the game again on my PSP (now using the custom controls), and a) I discovered that my accuracy with the D-pad was much improved, and b) I discovered that . . . I was somehow WAY better at the game all of a sudden. I played only 2 or 3 games and managed (without using save states) to reach the third stage, topping out at a score of 58,960. Somehow, the game suddenly went from serious chore to manageable chaos, and it was actually fun. Fixing the controls certainly helped, but I don't think all of the improvement can be attributed to it.
I say go ahead and mention Bosconian in your Vanguard II review. It seems to be a clear influence in the design.
As for Alpha Mission, I looked up an online strategy guide and figured out how the game works. It's quite difficult. There was no way I could have beaten that first stage boss without save states. And even using save states, I've reached the Stage 5 boss and can't progress any further. The guy teleports around the screen, firing sprays of bullets, and if he happens to teleport to where you are, you're dead (unless you have armor equipped, and then you die 2 seconds later). Maybe you're supposed to beat him using a specific armor, one that I don't have. The NeoGeo's Alpha Mission II (available on the PS Store in NEOGEO Station) is definitely a superior game.
Posted 8 months ago # -
Heh, I'd forgotten about that. However, it doesn't help all that much once you get a few levels in, because each new life starts you from the same point in the level. It ends up that you can't survive long enough to make it to the parts of the level that you haven't destroyed yet. I got to the "destroy 70 pods" level (I guess that's Level 7?) using Immortal and no save states before throwing in the towel. I wonder if the game has an end. If it does, I'll bet it's totally not worth it. :)
It suddenly occurred to me while playing Alpha Mission again that its background music appears in the level of NeoGeo Heroes: Ultimate Shooting that's themed after A.S.O. (the Japanese name of Alpha Mission). Similar to how Psycho Soldier's music appears in Athena's level of that game.
Posted 8 months ago #
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